After a weekend of sharing the same bed with Wanye in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, I have a lot of catching up to do. Please forgive me for being a couple days behind, I’m still haunted by the awkward leg touches as I’m sure many of you are haunted from the Oilers weekend. I figure I’ll weigh in with my two cents even if I’m behind.

BROKEN RECORD

Not much on the ice has changed in "Oilerland" I see, just more of the same inconsistencies, and no results. I’m not going to dive back into each game and dissect them because it’s the same things that are costing them. To many turnovers, poor defensive zone play, and a lack of any physical element to their game. It’s tough to win in this league with those deficiencies.

TRADE

I struggled a bit with seeing Ladi Smid moved. In past years I’ve never gotten to watch many Oiler games but I remember playing Smid and he was always a nuisance if you were in and around the Oiler net. He was annoying during and after the play.

Nothing was different this year from that standpoint. I saw him as the only guy that made it tough to be in front of the net or got in someone's face when a teammate needed. He wasn’t the toughest or scariest guy in the world but he was the only guy that I saw that was willing to do it every night on this blue line. A willingness to compete and be uncomfortable for your teammates is a great thing in any dressing room.

This team needs a shakeup no doubt and I know with the Bryzgalov addition something had to give but when the main concern people have with this team is the makeup and the Oilers having too much soft small skill, why ship out the only guy on the back end that didn’t play a soft game?

WHY NOT

I have seen some who are concerned with the Ilya Byzgalov addition to this locker room and I can understand the concern. I just don’t see at this point how can it get any worse?

The team is a mile below .500 and whatever is happening in that dressing room at the moment would appear to be rock bottom. It's not all Dubnyk's fault, he's played great at times and struggled during other stretches but if there is a cheap opportunity out there to potentially get better, I think at this point you take it.

UPSIDE

The hope is this guy has learned from his antics in Philly and can provide some depth at the position and maybe the Oil get a bargain moving forward. Thinking somehow this guy is going to come in and hurt a locker room that was 4-11-2 and has since chalked up 2 more losses, I don’t quite understand.

Many goalies are a little different to begin with, if he’s a problem in the room or hurting the focus of young players on the importance of winning then it’s a one year deal and you move on. He can still be sent to the minors or sent home if things get stupid this year as well.

They aren’t winning as is, so I don’t mind the gamble at all. I just wish they didn’t move Smid to do it.

TO PLAY OR NOT TO PLAY

This is such a tough decision for players. The majority of athletes will do whatever it takes to be with their team even if they are not 100% healthy. This leaves players very vulnerable to scrutiny if they are not performing. Lost in it all is the fact he's hungry to play and willing to sacrifice his body for his teammates.

The players know what he is enduring and I’m sure they love him for it. I've played with several guys that had to be 100% healthy for 2 weeks before suiting up. This didn’t always sit well inside the walls of a dressing room because rarely is anyone that healthy during the season.

It’s easy to pile on guys right now when things are going bad and things haven’t been good for Ganger so far, but let’s give the guy some credit. How easy would it have been for him to sit back and say “boy things are going rough around here, I'm just going to let the boys handle this rough patch and I'll sit up here in this cozy press box for a couple more weeks, till things settle down.” Some guys would do that.

This is a guy that's still clearly hurting, you can see it on the bench when he takes any kind of hit and instead of taking the easy route he chose to dive head first into this fire with his teammates.

He’s another small skilled guy and who knows what the future may hold for him and others on this squad the way things are going but I applaud him for his gutsiness even if things haven’t started that great. I wouldn’t have expected much else from a guy with a shattered jaw, injuries take time.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES

If you missed it, please don’t forget to vote for our friend Struds who was in the final last night on CBC. If he wins, a nice chunk of change will be donated to a local charity here in Edmonton, The Inner City Children’s Program.

With as much losing that is going on around here, let’s all step up to get a big win for Struds and a great local charity. It's not too late, please vote here.

A Moose Jaw Warriors alumnus and veteran of 460 NHL games with the Capitals, Ducks and Stars—Sutherby is here to regale us with tales of the WJHC, life as an NHL player and much more from a Pro’s perspective. Co-Host's the Jason Gregor show on TSN1260 on Tuesday's from 3-5 and Coaches at www.proconnectionhockey.com
Twitter:@briansutherby

He scored 0.8ppg in the lockout. 100% of the games played. Thats works out to 65pts. Or does Chicago only get 60% of the Stanley Cup for last year?

Nice try. You are funny, I do admit that.

We get it. Oilers suck. You hate them. You like to rub it in. You have no life and spend your days on an Oilers fan site to bash them. (seriously who does that?? - I couldn't imagine spending even 1 minute on another teams blog.. sad really). You hate Lowe and everything about the Oilers organization. We hate you. I rest my case.

You are so smart. Predicting the broken jaw, and bad start. How did you know!?!?! MacT should hire you.

FYI - his NTC is only next year (1/3 of the contract). He can be traded this year. And until July 1. Then again the 3rd year. If he plays less sh1tty there is no contactual reason why he wouldn't be attractive. Manageable contract for a 50-60pt guy. On the right team (who doesn't have ALL small skill) he would be a nice fit.

I thought from day 1 MacTs play was to trade him this year or pre July 1. MacT just forgot to hire you to fortune tell the broken jaw thing.

1) MacT gave him a verbal promise that he would not trade him before his NTC kicks in.

2) Gagner is NOT a "50-60 point guy". He had never broken 50 points in his 7 seasons and he's sure not going to do it this season.

3) The Oilers leading scorer at the moment is Jordan Eberle who is only on pace for 64 points despite playing 1st line minutes and 1st unit PP.
Gagner gets the 5th most minutes at evens and is 9th in PPTOI/G.

Not a chance he would score 50+ even if he had been healthy from the start of the season.

He scored 0.8ppg in the lockout. 100% of the games played. Thats works out to 65pts. Or does Chicago only get 60% of the Stanley Cup for last year?

Nice try. You are funny, I do admit that.

We get it. Oilers suck. You hate them. You like to rub it in. You have no life and spend your days on an Oilers fan site to bash them. (seriously who does that?? - I couldn't imagine spending even 1 minute on another teams blog.. sad really). You hate Lowe and everything about the Oilers organization. We hate you. I rest my case.

Sorry Sparky...you don't get credit for points you didn't score in games you didn't play.

Trade yakcity?? This team sunk to lows I never even thought possible! I'm disgusted everytime I even think about this team. Hopefully sportsnet will start showing more flames games, I can't watch this team anymore

1) MacT gave him a verbal promise that he would not trade him before his NTC kicks in.

2) Gagner is NOT a "50-60 point guy". He had never broken 50 points in his 7 seasons and he's sure not going to do it this season.

3) The Oilers leading scorer at the moment is Jordan Eberle who is only on pace for 64 points despite playing 1st line minutes and 1st unit PP.
Gagner gets the 5th most minutes at evens and is 9th in PPTOI/G.

Not a chance he would score 50+ even if he had been healthy from the start of the season.

I know you love to twist facts, only focus on the 1 out 10 stats that support your arguments and then duck and hide like a schoolgirl when your predictions are all wrong. (Dale Tallon for GM of the decade anyone)

Gagner has been 0.6 ppg, 0.6 ppg, 0.8 ppg

Injuries aside. Extrapolated over the year thats 50pts, 50pts, 65pts

I rest my case.

Or as I said in my original post are you a fortune teller predicting injuries? Durability, injury prone, yadda yadda. He played 100% of the games last year.

Now go back in you cave and hide. Nobody around here wants to hear your BS right now.

I know you love to twist facts, only focus on the 1 out 10 stats that support your arguments and then duck and hide like a schoolgirl when your predictions are all wrong. (Dale Tallon for GM of the decade anyone)

Gagner has been 0.6 ppg, 0.6 ppg, 0.8 ppg

Injuries aside. Extrapolated over the year thats 50pts, 50pts, 65pts

I rest my case.

Or as I said in my original post are you a fortune teller predicting injuries? Durability, injury prone, yadda yadda. He played 100% of the games last year.

Now go back in you cave and hide. Nobody around here wants to hear your BS right now.

I think Hall is untouchable, and Eberle is also do to the all to common oilers overpay aka the Horcoff

Hall is a player for sure. That said the oil have deep deep issues and numerous holes to fill. When watching Hall play there is little to no structure to his game. Build from D-core out, plus strength down the middle.
Hall and Petry to Boston for Dougie Hamilton, Johnny Boychuck and Patrice Bergeron.
Eberle and Arcobello and a 2nd to Phili for Braydon Colburn and Sean Couturier.
If Yak is truely not a fit in the dressing room, my next move is Yakupov to Colorado for Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda ( should have never let him go in the 1st place)

The current Oil as still way to soft- they are way to easy on opposing D on the dump and chase. Opposing D basically have a free night off when playing this team. Time to get some grit. The reality, in order to get something one needs to give something up.

I've been watching Gagner for 5 years. Way too often I've seen him just watching the puck in the defensive zone and losing his man. It might be more obvious after his injury and with a new system, but it's been an issue for years.

Broken jaw or not he is too small, a defensive liability and has a NTC for 4 mil plus per season- great signing Mac T

1) MacT gave him a verbal promise that he would not trade him before his NTC kicks in.

2) Gagner is NOT a "50-60 point guy". He had never broken 50 points in his 7 seasons and he's sure not going to do it this season.

3) The Oilers leading scorer at the moment is Jordan Eberle who is only on pace for 64 points despite playing 1st line minutes and 1st unit PP.
Gagner gets the 5th most minutes at evens and is 9th in PPTOI/G.

Not a chance he would score 50+ even if he had been healthy from the start of the season.

"Not a chance he would score 50+ even if he had been healthy from the start of the season."

I bet you he is on for more then 50 against though.It seems he is on for at least two against a game.Him being on for goals against and Dubnyk letting in at least one weak goal a game are two constants this year.

Looked it up he has played 6 games and been on for 10 goals against.Ouch.he is a career -57.Funny thing is most people who like Gagner like Dubnyk also.Personally both can go.Three seasons ago.

I'm not sure what Igor thinks he will gain by going public with this? I'm also not sure what Nail thinks he deserves from the team but his play has not warranted increased opportunity. The circus continues...

Larionov going public is about as close to a trade demand as you can get.

Did you notice, after Yakupov scored last night, only newcomer Phillip Larson, was genuinely congratulating Yakupov while Hall and others barely acknowledged him?

I don't know if you have any evidence to back up the whiney, the only whiney I see is your post crying about someone else crying. Now you made me cry about your cries....wtf end the cycle. Please, find me a hockey player who isn't whining on the ice. They all do, emotions are high.

I've been watching Gagner for 5 years. Way too often I've seen him just watching the puck in the defensive zone and losing his man. It might be more obvious after his injury and with a new system, but it's been an issue for years.

Broken jaw or not he is too small, a defensive liability and has a NTC for 4 mil plus per season- great signing Mac T

You are so smart. Predicting the broken jaw, and bad start. How did you know!?!?! MacT should hire you.

FYI - his NTC is only next year (1/3 of the contract). He can be traded this year. And until July 1. Then again the 3rd year. If he plays less sh1tty there is no contactual reason why he wouldn't be attractive. Manageable contract for a 50-60pt guy. On the right team (who doesn't have ALL small skill) he would be a nice fit.

I thought from day 1 MacTs play was to trade him this year or pre July 1. MacT just forgot to hire you to fortune tell the broken jaw thing.

You guys care too much about this team. They suck! They suck now, they sucked for 8 years and they'll suck for another 4or 5 atleast. The problems with this team arnt new. It's been the same crap for years and nothings changed, not even the assistant coaches! It's an absolute joke

The problem is that fans were promised bold moves. All the fans knew what bold was, moving out a soft Gagner and some prospects for a legit 2c. Also moving out one of the 4 top wingers for a legit top 2 d man .... The fans know bold and we see more of the same old same old crap. Move out a legit guy like Smid for useless parts when we need less parts and more core guys who can get the job done at the nhl level.

My hope is that Bryz plays lights out, good enough to move him out at the deadline for a 1st (best case scenario). Let Dubnyk walk at the end of the season and make it priority #1 to obtain a premier goaltender in the offseason whether it be by trade or free agent signing.

Why wouldn't Eakins put Gagner on the wing. MAcrobello was doing great at Centre. Much better than Gagner by eye and stats. I know it's a small sample size. But Gagner is looking like he needs a stint in OKC.

I want to make it clear re: Gagner--I'm not a hater. However he can't hold a candle to Arcobello as a centerman. Arcs is better in the dot and with and without the puck all day long. I think the reason Eakins is using Gagner, (unsuccessfully), at critical times instead of MA, is his way of showing MacT that Gagner should be traded before his No Trade takes affect. Archobello has proven his case. After 7 seasons of watching Gagner, I believe he is giving his best effort, but he is being outshined by others with less experience.

Southerby, you have quickly become the most insightful poster on this sight.

The Smid move is puzzling. It can only be interpreted as MacT giving up on this season.

About 2 years ago Gagner had a training camp injury and missed the 1st month or so. When he returned he was brutal for his first month or so. His struggles are not so surprising. However, if he can't so better than he has so far, perhaps they need to sit him until he is fully healthy.

Best case for the Oil is that Gagner starts scoring at his normal pace by the end of the year and trade him for whatever they can get before July 1. They will probably need to take back someone else's bad contract though.

As Yogi Berra once said "a verbal agreement isn't worth the paper it is written on"

I don't blame Gagner for sucking right now. He should of sat 4-5 more games, but the team needed a boost. We are seeing what a player who comes off a such an injury that effects your eating and conditioning looks like. He looks worse this year then at any point I can remember. They have force fed him minutes and he has struggled. The penalty shot showed that he's not feeling it.

But I do blame Eakins for his usage. Arco should never been moved outta the 2C position. Arco struggled, Gagner was not ready to find his grove, and force feeding minutes to Sam has compounded the Oilers trouble. Why the heck did play so much against Stamkos or was allowed to take so many draws in Philly?

Frankly the argument Sam has never had a 50 point season is to me like saying Taylor Hall's not a top 15 player and point producer cause last season was short. Sam produced well last year, except the final 10 games when Yak was the only player going.

1) I agree it's a tough situation for Gagner and he should likely still be in the press box.

2) Agree completely.

3) A shortened season can cause all sorts of distortions. It's worth noting that Gagner has only 2 points (both second assists) in the final 10 games last season. Given that he is known to go through very long non-productive stretches in his career, it's just as likely his production would have stagnated for a much longer period of time.

Igor Larionov says he’s got a trip planned to Edmonton to discuss how Nail Yakupov is being used. Pretty unhappy.

Maybe Katz should have listened to McGregor and stayed out of the way when the management wanted to draft Murray, it was his decision to draft Yakapov and that is a fact.
The Oiler's have a new title to Stauffers daily radio show after the teams start and recent moves,
It is now called "Oiler's WTF Now".

He scored 0.8ppg in the lockout. 100% of the games played. Thats works out to 65pts. Or does Chicago only get 60% of the Stanley Cup for last year?

Nice try. You are funny, I do admit that.

We get it. Oilers suck. You hate them. You like to rub it in. You have no life and spend your days on an Oilers fan site to bash them. (seriously who does that?? - I couldn't imagine spending even 1 minute on another teams blog.. sad really). You hate Lowe and everything about the Oilers organization. We hate you. I rest my case.

So has he ever scored fifty in one season?

Extrapolation is for the birds in this regard: injuries are often a symptom of how a player plays the game or how injury prone he is.

By your metric Bobby Orr would be the record holder for most assists over a career.

Why is this trouble? Given this teams ineptitude in making necessary trades I think a forced one is something to celebrate. We can't keep all the kids and well I personally would rather see Ganja or Eberle go, Yak is fine....just don't F this up and get an actual NHL top DMan for this kid.

Yak or Hemsky to Ottawa for Clarke MacArthur and a pick. He's got 12 points, is +13, can play top 6 minutes, tough in the corners and can drop the mitts. He's a tough SK boy. Grapes heralded him when he was in TO as being one of three players to turn that team around.

Ottawa hasn't found the answer to Alfreddson's departure, one of these two could easily fill that void.

I don't really have one. I'm confused by the message. Perhaps there is something behind the scenes that I'm unaware of. He wasn't flashy, he wasn't perfect but I feel like they just traded away something they already lacked(grit). I hope there is a replacement coming sooner than later. They just got even easier to play against.

Brian, I posted this earlier .....what do you think?

I think it's five things

1) They felt they needed to do something quickly to right the ship and they had limited options

That combined with

2) They needed short term cap relief to bring in Bryz....

3) They need mid term cap relief to make significant change(s) at the trade deadline

4) Smid was not part of the long term plans and they actually like Horak and Brossoit ( they believe it adds organizational depth even if they are perceived as losing the trade)

5) MacT felt he needed to back up his rhetoric about being impatient and not accepting a culture of loosing

* I'm not saying that any of the 5 things couldn't have been dealt with differently....just offering up what I think was the explanation

...

I guess what I'm asking is, do you think it was something tactical like is listed above, or is it more likely something else that is more political, like things said or taking place in the dressing room?

If you are right than what does it say about a manager willing to lose a trade. What does that say the organization thinks. If.....If you are correct that means the rebuild is still going on for many more years......I so hope you are wrong.

Why wouldn't Eakins put Gagner on the wing. MAcrobello was doing great at Centre. Much better than Gagner by eye and stats. I know it's a small sample size. But Gagner is looking like he needs a stint in OKC.

Why is right. You would think that Eakins watched oilers games before taking the job or is actually watching from the bench. Either way it seams obvious to move Gagner to the wings and put arcobello at centre....why isn't it happening?

I don't really have one. I'm confused by the message. Perhaps there is something behind the scenes that I'm unaware of. He wasn't flashy, he wasn't perfect but I feel like they just traded away something they already lacked(grit). I hope there is a replacement coming sooner than later. They just got even easier to play against.

So does it lead you to believe that MacT is incompetent, or do you think it's more likely that he did the deal for reasons that are not yet obvious?

Oops, sorry ....I was posting this just as you were posting your answer. Please disregard this one. Thanks

1) There is a conspiracy to keep a 5hitty product going and reap the money that us suckers keep paying. In which case, it's (hypothetical) Molotov time. (Please don't actually firebomb them if this turns out to be true.) This makes them negligent.

2) They are trying their hardest to win and do right by their loyal fans. This make them incompetent. (Once again, hold off on the rioting.)

Either one should result in a firing somewhere. Does anyone truly believe that the players are giving 100% on the ice in the face of adversity, the coaches are giving 100% to adapt systems and coaching methods to strive to win and the management are doing all in their power to provide the assets needed to be a contender? Somebody's asleep on their watch....

I don't blame Gagner for sucking right now. He should of sat 4-5 more games, but the team needed a boost. We are seeing what a player who comes off a such an injury that effects your eating and conditioning looks like. He looks worse this year then at any point I can remember. They have force fed him minutes and he has struggled. The penalty shot showed that he's not feeling it.

But I do blame Eakins for his usage. Arco should never been moved outta the 2C position. Arco struggled, Gagner was not ready to find his grove, and force feeding minutes to Sam has compounded the Oilers trouble. Why the heck did play so much against Stamkos or was allowed to take so many draws in Philly?

Frankly the argument Sam has never had a 50 point season is to me like saying Taylor Hall's not a top 15 player and point producer cause last season was short. Sam produced well last year, except the final 10 games when Yak was the only player going.